Impaired DuPage pilot sentenced to one month of work-release jail time
A pilot who literally walked away from the crash of his single-engine plane near a private DuPage County air strip was ordered Wednesday to serve one month of work-release jail time for being impaired while flying.
Sean M. Oskvarek, 45, also was placed on two years' probation in a plea deal for operating the aircraft with cocaine, marijuana, opiates and a prescription sedative in his system.
Oskvarek was the only person aboard the Cessna 182 about 11 p.m. Nov. 15 when it clipped a house and flew into tall evergreen trees before coming to rest upside-down in a yard just east of the Brookeridge Air Park runway near Downers Grove. No one on the ground was injured.
The Woodridge man left the crash scene on the 8400 block of Kentwood Court before rescuers arrived. Police later tracked down Oskvarek in Woodridge and, after checking his injuries at the hospital, arrested him.
Oskvarek faced probation or two to five years in prison. The law considers pilots impaired if their blood-alcohol level exceeds .04, compared to .08 for motorists. If also forbids alcohol consumption up to eight hours before a flight.
"He admitted having three or four drinks before he got into the plane," prosecutor Audriana Anderson said. "In the plane, they found a bag with more than 100 prescription pills inside."
Oskvarek was returning from Michigan before he crashed. His BAC was only .010, well below the legal threshold, but prosecutors still pursued criminal charges for the illegal and prescription drugs.
The defendant's only criminal history was for a 2005 misdemeanor DUI charge, for which he was placed on court supervision.
DuPage Circuit Judge Blanche Hill Fawell presided over Wednesday's plea. Oskvarek must surrender to begin his jail term Aug. 27. He'll be allowed to leave the DuPage County jail daily to go to work, but must return afterward to spend the night behind bars. He also must be evaluated by probation officials for future counseling services if they deem it appropriate.
Oskvarek also lost his pilot certificate as part of the federal probe into the crash. His attorney, Brian St. Hilaire, did not return a phone message Wednesday seeking comment.
DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said Oskvarek should consider himself lucky.
"Not only is he lucky to be alive," Birkett said in a statement, "had he caused injury or death to any innocent people on the ground, he would be looking at a substantial amount of time behind bars."